Gold bar found in city fountain, again

A fourth gold bar was recovered from the fountain in Palmetto Bay Plaza on Sunday morning, bringing the year's total to roughly $280,000 in bullion that nobody has claimed and nobody can explain.

The bar, one kilogram and stamped with a smiley face, was found by city maintenance worker Ruben Ellis, 44, during the fountain's monthly coin collection. He said he "saw it under the leaves and thought, not again."

The pattern

Each bar has appeared in the week after a full moon. Each has been stamped with a different expression: a smile, a wink, a frown and, this time, a smile "with the eyebrows up." The city's assay office says the gold is "real, pure and in a good mood."

Police have reviewed the plaza's cameras and found nothing, as the cameras point at the benches, "because of the benches." A detective told Wazel News the bars "could be anyone's, which is the problem with gold."

"The first time, we thought it was a prank. The second, a message. The third, a habit. Now we just drain the fountain and look."

— Ruben Ellis, Plaza maintenance

Who is doing this?

Theories abound. The Money desk's favorite involves the Golden Pelican heist crew "laundering with a sense of humor." The City desk prefers an anonymous donor who "really likes the fountain." The Crime desk suspects the clown gang, who have denied it, "and that's a first, usually we have to ask."

Dellacroix Residential, which owns the building beside the plaza, has asked the city whether the fountain's "gold-bearing status" can be reflected in nearby rents. The city has not replied.

The gold's fate

Under city rules, unclaimed property goes to the finder after 90 days. Ellis has 71 days left on the first bar and intends to "keep collecting coins, carefully." He has asked whoever is leaving the bars to "stop, or leave a note, or at least do the frown one again, that was my favorite."

The LSX gold index rose 0.3% on Monday, which analysts say is unrelated. The fountain was refilled at noon.